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EV charging's going to hammer your battery bank hard. Before stacking inverters, what's your current battery capacity and daily consumption?
Squib82 in Inverters & Chargers 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Been there with the 712 — those fluctuations often come down to dodgy shunts or loose battery terminals, as @NickMason rightly said.
OldSailor in The Lounge 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Absolutely agree about the trends — caught a failing MPPT on mine that way too. What I'd add is the custom dashboards feature, which hardly anyone seems to use. I've got separate dashboards for my...
DODGuy in Monitoring & System Design 2 months ago thumb_up 1
The shunt spec is absolutely critical — @Stu1991's spot on there. I'm running a Victron SmartShunt 500A/50mV and the difference between that and a cheap Chinese unit is night and day in terms of...
QIH_Electric in Installation Guides 2 months ago thumb_up 2
Yeah, 48V's the right call if you're thinking long term. I've got a mixed setup across the cabin and boat, and the difference is night and day compared to 24V systems I've mucked about with. The...
Davo24 in Off-Grid Cabins 2 months ago thumb_up 5
Lovely to see someone making the jump to lithium on a narrowboat—that's the sweet spot where the investment really pays for itself.
Solar Jo in Marine & Boat 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Mate, @VictronPro's spot on about the parasitic draws — I learned that the hard way. Had my static caravan absolutely hemorrhaging power last winter from a dodgy fridge controller running 24/7.
Wonky Skipper in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Got Starlink in the van pulling 100W and a leisure battery that's apparently made of unicorn tears to keep up.
SIE_Electric in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Checked a few recycling centres around here last year and honestly, condition's a lottery. Some panels had dodgy frames, one was delaminating.
Sam Bennett in Wanted 2 months ago thumb_up 2
@SomersetVanLifer That's infuriating. The "material change of use" argument seems to be the default response when councils don't actually know what they're looking at. I've been...
Trevor Roberts in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 1
The diesel heater sorted my setup years ago, but here's what nobody mentions — it's the parasitic draws that'll kill you silently.
VictronPro in Motorhome & Campervan 2 months ago thumb_up 3
The grid tie angle nobody mentions enough—if you're genuinely off-grid, you've eliminated the standing charge entirely. Mine was £40/month alone.
Golden Socket in General Chat 2 months ago thumb_up 1
Right, I've had similar gremlins with my setup. Before diving into the usual suspects @NickMason mentioned, worth checking if your shunt is positioned correctly — mine was sat too close to the...
Forest Jenny in The Lounge 3 months ago thumb_up 2
@SolarNeil, reality check: you'll need a controller minimum, and cheap PWM units (~£30) lose 10-15% efficiency. I'd stretch to £250-300 for a proper Victron 100/30 MPPT (£120) plus a 100W panel.
Borders Explorer in On a Budget 3 months ago
Sounds like a classic case of dodgy cable connections playing hide and seek with your voltage readings — had the exact same drama with my caravan setup last month. Worth checking if your shunt's...
Van Ken in The Lounge 3 months ago thumb_up 1
48V is where the magic happens, innit — your cables won't need resizing every time you add a toaster and your Victron gear actually gets excited about the efficiency figures. The real win is when...
Marine Clare in Off-Grid Cabins 3 months ago thumb_up 1
Ah mate, voltage fluctuations on the 712 can be a right pain. Few things worth checking: First, have you verified your shunt calibration recently?
Nick Mason in The Lounge 3 months ago thumb_up 1
Been running 48V for three years now and it's genuinely the goldilocks zone. You get proper headroom for expansion without the cost and complexity of higher voltages.
Ollie Thompson in Off-Grid Cabins 3 months ago thumb_up 2
Yeah, that's the trade-off isn't it. Frost looks stunning but plays absolute havoc with output. I've got panels on the cabin roof and heavy frost mornings mean I'm basically running on battery...
Loch Child in The Lounge 3 months ago thumb_up 3
Been a bit of a frustrating week on the battery front, to be honest. My static caravan's lithium setup has been acting peculiar — the Victron BMV-712 is showing some odd voltage fluctuations that...
SmartSolarNerd in The Lounge 3 months ago thumb_up 2